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Crestwood citizens trained to help their neighbors during a catastrophic emergency will have a place to store the tools of their trade.
Thanks to the city of Crestwood and the St. Louis Area Regional Response System, or STARRS.
STARRS, an effort of the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, uses federal grants to help local governments plan for, protect against and recover from natural or man-made crises.
The agreement to accept the donation from STARRS of 55 backpacks, valued at $50 each, means residents trained as Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, members will be able to carry first-aid kits, tools, safety equipment and other items if they ever have to respond in times of emergencies, said Crestwood Deputy Police Chief Frank Arnoldy.
Arnoldy, who is part of the city's CERT training staff, said "if we didn't have this agreement with STARRS to get these backpacks we'd have to decide whether we would fund it or not."
"What we do is fund, through Homeland Security grants, various resources, whether it's in the fire department, police department, public health or hospitals, that could be needed when a disaster occurs," said STARRS Executive Director Dominic "Nick" Gragnani.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provides the money to the St. Louis metropolitan region and STARRS directs it to different initiatives and groups that are underway to help mitigate a disaster or get prepared for one when it does occur, Gragnani said.
One of those initiatives is the Citizen Corps, which "is similar to the Peace Corps, although at the local level they help citizenry get ready for when something major does occur," Grignani said.
"Within the Citizen Corps are different component. One of them being the Community Emergency Response Team concept," he said. "CERT helps prepare neighborhoods to deal with the disaster on their own until the emergency response is there to assist them."
The Citizen Corps trains neighborhood watch groups, clubs and other smaller groups to perform damage assessments, light searches and rescues, fire suppression and general first aid, Grignani said.
The city's agreement with STARRS allows the group to bring the residents a deeper understanding of what it takes to deal with disasters and the aftermath.
"I kind of refer to it as the Godfather agreement, where we're willing to do this for you, with the understanding that come someday that need is going to be there and you will respond to the citizens of Crestwood," he said.
Crestwood's CERT program teaches volunteers, after a 20-hour training course by the city's police and fire department, "to care for themselves and their neighbors if we have a major event or incident," Arnoldy said.
The specially made backpacks will hold, among other items, a mask, hard hat, work gloves, safety goggles, whistle and lanyard, orange CERT safety vest, flashlight, four-in-one spark-proof tool for shutting off utility lines and appliances, an adjustable wrench, duct tape, blanket, tarpaulin, utility knife, ear plugs, first aid kit and triage equipment.
Arnoldy said in times of catastrophic emergencies people have to be prepared to possibly fend for themselves for at least 96 hours without outside help.
"We're always looking for more people to get involved so they can be trained to take care of themselves and their families and neighborhood," Arnoldy said. "During an earthquake or weather-related things like tornadoes and ice storms, even electrical outages, during all those things you need to have supplies set aside and know how to take care of yourself and others until help arrives."
There are approximately 100 CERT-trained residents in Crestwood, Arnoldy said, and about 3,000 in the entire St. Louis metropolitan area.
There is a CERT training session already in progress in Crestwood but there is a waiting list for future classes.
Interested residents can contact Assistant Fire Chief Mark Menning at (314) 729-4741, or at www.metrowestcert.com.
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